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17 Year-Old Pilot Missing

Marvin Chezray Hayes of Mililani left Honolulu at about 11:30 a.m. bound for Maui. He checked in with the Molokai Tower at 12:15 p.m., but that was the last time anyone heard from him.

The coast guard says Chezray Hayes was flying a Honolulu-based cessna 172.  When he failed to check in with his second scheduled tower, the coast guard was notified.

Chief Petty Officer Craig Dente, of the U.S. Coast Guard said "we received a report from Honolulu flight services today (Saturday) of an overdue single engine aircraft on the north shore of Molokai, which was his last known position."

A search for the single engine plane was underway Saturday afternoon and planned to continue throughout the night.

Dente said "we have a coast guard helicopter currently doing shoreline searches, the north shore of Molokai, and also off Kahului on Maui, we also dispatched a c-130."

The coast guard say Hayes should have reached Kahului by 1:00p.m., but he may have gone off course.

 According to Dente, "he was on a v.f.r flight, so that meant he was free to deviate from his course to go sightseeing, basically whatever he wanted."

The coast guard says it has not received a signal from the plane's beacon.